THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE OF
COMMUNICATIONS, PUBLISHED IN
JANUARY 1983, CELEBRATED PAST
EDITORIAL ACHIEVEMENTS BY
REPRINTING 21 SEMINAL PAPERS
FROM ITS FIRST QUARTER-CENTURY.
wrote a couple of pieces (in the July 1977 and Feb.
1982 issues) counting how many pages of “
nonre-search” material actually appeared between the
covers of CACM. In addition to the existing
“Reports and Articles” sections, these included the
calendar, position notices, and other materials of
general member interest. I even suggested (
facetiously) that those who could not bear the sight of
the academic content physically tear out the
offending pages, traditionally grouped together in
the middle of the issue. Left would be virtual JAM
(or vJAM).
Eventually, of course, the last of the “
black-and-blue” covers appeared with a colorful hint of what
was to come peeping out of the bottom right-hand
corner of the cover of the 25th Anniversary issue in
January 1983. This edition, my swan song as EIC,
reprinted 21 notable papers of the past, including
Dijkstra’s previously mentioned piece, as well as
E.F. Codd’s milestone “A Relational Model of Data
for Large Shared Data Banks” (June 1970), and the
seminal “A Method for Obtaining Digital Signatures and Public-Key Cryptosystems,” by R.L.
Rivest, A. Shamir, and L. Adleman (Feb.
1978). Also in that issue was a page on
CACM’s contributions to computing education, as well as a summary of its history entitled “The First Quarter Century,” complete
with timeline.
The “Forum” section, consisting of letters
to the editor contributed by readers, began
before my editorship, but grew and flourished
mightily during my years. We spun off “
Technical Correspondence” as a separate section, so
that Forum could be a source of lively opinion
on all things related to computing, however
remotely. When I took the helm, being
Forum Editor was an implied adjunct to being
EIC. When I left the latter post in 1983, I
remained as Forum Editor until 1991. Editing
Forum was definitely one of the most stimulating and fun parts of the job, and I tried conscientiously to print everything that came in,
no matter how scurrilous it appeared to many. I also
endeavored to get responses appearing in the same
issue from those criticized (or maligned). The only
letters “suppressed,” by order of the ACM Council,
were those supposedly of general technical interest
but submitted by members who were currently
candidates for ACM elected office (thus branded
“electioneering”). I particularly remember a letter
from Herb Grosch, perennial gadfly, accompanied
by a second letter—of protest—in case we declined
to print the first one.
From these roots grew the galaxy of ACM publications we have today, covering all aspects of
computing for all manner of professionals. One
might think, of course, that this was inevitable,
given the pervasive growth of the computing field.
But it certainly owes a good deal to the vision and
foresight of all those involved in ACM publications in the earlier years. c
ROBERT L. ASHENHURST ( frashen2@chicagogsb.edu) is
Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago, IL.